


No Use in Trying

by posey11



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-02
Updated: 2014-08-02
Packaged: 2018-02-11 10:10:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2064051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/posey11/pseuds/posey11
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>'Get in, get out, don't get attached.'</i>
</p><p>It always worked well for her, never had any problems. She never made friends and would certainly kill anyone just as long as the money was right. Braeden learned a long time ago that being abrasive kept everyone at bay.</p><p>Then Derek came along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Use in Trying

**Author's Note:**

> I've been neglecting my internet life so I can write more of this pairing. I love it so much!

 

Braeden's motto has always been, “A girl's gotta eat.”

_'Get in, get out, don't get attached.'_

It always worked well for her, never had any problems. She never made friends and would certainly kill anyone just as long as the money was right. Braeden learned a long time ago that being abrasive kept everyone at bay.

Then Derek came along.

No matter how impolite or curt she was, he never paused or retreated. If anything, it seemed to entice him even more. Sure, he was easy on the eyes—he was better looking than anyone she'd seen in a while—but she quickly pushed those thoughts out of her mind.

_'You don't even know these people. They'd kill you almost as fast as you'd kill them.'_

But humans are weak and the needs of the flesh win out in the end.

Braeden had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that despite how hard and jaded she thought she was, all it took was a pair of captivating hazel eyes and a muscular body to break her down. And in the back of her mind, she knew Derek was more than just a pretty face. Talking to him and eventually knowing more about him made her realize it.

_'You're here to do a job. You're not a naïve little girl looking for a soul mate.'_

And yet, there she was in Derek's loft. Her clothes are lying on the floor, long forgotten. So are his. Braeden hates how he holds her so tenderly. She hates how he kisses her like she'll break if he's anything but gentle with her. She hates the way his calloused hands squeeze her bare thighs. She hates the whimpers that come out of her mouth when he's got his face between her legs. But most of all, she hates how he whispers her name in her ear. She hates the way he says it, so sweetly and dripping with desire.

At least that's what she tells herself.

_'All you have to do is leave before it gets worse. It doesn't matter how, do it like a coward, early in the morning without telling anyone, just do it.'_

When she's fighting side by side with Derek, Scott and Kira, and even Chris, it fills her with a sense of purpose; something she never experienced as a mercenary. She feels like she's meant to be in Beacon Hills with all these people. It feels like every decision she's made up to this point has steered her towards this path. Towards Scott, towards Derek. She'd be a fool to disrupt this.

_'You're as good as dead.'_

Someone decided to risk everything and claim the bounty on his head.

Braeden finds Derek sitting pitifully on the floor, back resting against a beam of the loft, blood pooling beneath him. In that moment, she suddenly feels the crushing weight of the earth on her shoulders. She blamed herself for leaving him alone now that he was human; they thought he'd be okay, as they and Scott were the only ones that knew. He looks up at her and manages a smile, but his eyes roll back in his head, and she knows the end is near.

As she comes closer, the smell of blood fills her nostrils and it's so strong, it makes her sick. “We've gotta get you to Deaton. He can help you,” she says. With strength that rivals that of a grown man, Braeden lifts him up, drapes his arm across her shoulders and drags him out of the loft. His t-shirt is damp with blood and it seeps into her own clothing.

He's slipping in and out of consciousness while Braeden tries to get him to stay awake and making sure she doesn't drive off the road. Derek's lips are stained red, and he speaks. “Take care of yourself. Take care of the pack.”

And just like that, he's gone. She looks at him right as his head slumps to the side and curses the tears that threaten to fall, she curses the millions of words that won't come out. Her breathing is panicked and frantic and she calls out to him. Braeden stops the car in the middle of the road and begins shaking him. She says his name, yells it out. It won't do any good but it's all she can think to do right now.

She sits there for a moment, hands tightly gripping the steering wheel, just staring at the road ahead and wonders if Scott can feel something that lets him know Derek is gone. What about Peter? Cora? Would they be drawn to them like magnets?

On impulse, Braeden turns the car around. She heads back the opposite way and drives like a bat out of hell. She doesn't want to look at him, she doesn't want to look at his lifeless face anymore, as she fears losing control of the car.

The site where the old Hale house once stood is now just a large patch of dirt in the middle of the woods. The scent of charred wood is long gone and nature is slowly beginning to reclaim that space.

She remembers when Derek told her about Laura and what he did for her. It seemed fitting to do the same for him.

Not having the proper tools sets her back several hours. At one point during the night, she began digging into the earth with her own hands until her fingers bled. Perhaps this served as a way for Braeden to deal with this, to get the hurt out. The one person she had shown even a remote interest in will soon be six feet under.

The sun was starting to rise by the time she's done. Sunlight peeks through the trees and signals a new day has begun. She stares at the hole in the ground, trying to delay what has to come next.

If she didn't know any better, she would have guessed he was just sleeping. Derek's body is cold to the touch and it brings her back to reality. Braeden struggles to pull him out of the car; her muscles ache, her legs threaten to give out under her, but she finds the strength to keep going.

Lowering his body into the ground is difficult and not as graceful as she would have liked, but it's done. He's in his final resting place. Braeden goes back to her car and pops the trunk where she keeps an arsenal of weapons among other things. She moves guns off to the side to retrieve an old wooden box. The bottles inside clink as she opens the lid. The light blue bottle holding white powder was the one she was looking for. Braeden had bought it from two of the oldest witches in Trinidad and Tobago. For a hefty price, they whipped up a batch of what they simply called nightshade. It essentially acted as camouflage, a protective barrier that would keep someone hidden from anyone or anything who may be looking for it. She hoped she never had to use it, but this was as good a time as any.

She poured a generous amount of the mixture around Derek's body, hoping it would work. It may not have been as intricate as what he did for Laura, but she hoped it would be good enough.

Covering him with the dirt proves to be more difficult than anything else she had done so far. This is it, this is truly the end. Little by little, she fills the hole and Derek's body slowly disappears into the earth.

Braeden lies on the ground and looks at the trees and leaves swaying in the wind. The sun is bright and it warms her skin as she digs her fingers into the fresh dirt over Derek's grave. The birds are singing and she realizes that life goes on, her life goes on, and the only thing left to do is to keep living. And most importantly, find out who had the courage to collect Derek's bounty and make them regret ever having made that decision.

 

  

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it, leave a comment! Also, feel free to say hi or if you have prompts you'd like me to fill out, you can message me on [tumblr](http://posey11.tumblr.com/).


End file.
